Soccer By The Bay 2007 Tournament Wrap Up

While we don’t always put too much credence in rankings we know that our Union FC girls U14 team would rank in the top 5-10 teams in the State and have in fact defeated or tied some of the top 5 teams in the State. Got Soccer ranks our Union FC team at # 4 in the State. The problem with rankings is that 'they' only base them on tournament rankings and do not factor in friendly games, jamborees or important league games all of which are very important in ranking teams. Our coaches believe that we are approximately 4th in the State in all modesty and while Union FC has beaten and tied many teams above them, the reality is that we don’t consistently perform well enough and haven’t developed our skills to the extent that we can honestly call ourselves a top 5 team. Teams and players should not solely be judged on tournament performances but there is some truth in the rankings as they usually get them half right.

Last weekend, the Union FC U13 & U14 teams played in the Soccer By The Bay Tournament. The U14's went on to win their 8th straight game in 2 weeks, winning all 4 games at the tournament, conceding only 1 goal which isn’t bad for a team which doesn’t have a goalkeeper. Unusual tournament rules didn’t allow group winner's (Union won our group defeating Burlingame, San Juan and San Ramon) to progress and instead chose another team from a different group with the same amount of points to go to the final (SCA). While it was disappointing to win all games and not advance, the girls played well and took third a place with all players playing in new positions.

The U/13's had a difficult weekend, losing to the eventual champions in their first game while defeating Burlingame 4-0 in a second match. The third game the team played a great first half against a larger team and eventually lost out on a very bumpy and windy field. While the results were not as they would have hoped for, the team is still making progress and progress is there to be made.

The younger team will begin their tournaments shortly. Due to the fact they have started very late in the year and the level of competition we expect to face, the first few games will be difficult indeed so we don’t expect an easy time of it. To get to the level of our U14 team takes 3 years of training and team building. Through attrition and hard work and a conscious effort to improve both the collective and individual skill/performance levels, this success can be realized. We hope that the players and families of Union FC players realize that success takes time and patience is of major importance. The reality is that we don’t have a huge amount of players to choose from. Most of the teams featured in the top 10 in the U14 age bracket are select teams that are formed (recruited) from entire leagues and in some cases counties.

We are very proud of what are still new and small club has achieved. Give our coaches an average player with a passion for the game and we will help them realize their ambition of becoming a good soccer player. Desire, dedication, commitment are intangibles which define. At Union FC we hope to achieve even more success on the field in the not too distant future.